The Cardinals’ boys cross country team saw five top 13 finishes by its varsity runners Wednesday, Oct. 16 in Howard during the Region 2B meet.

The strong finishes by the boys earned St. Mary a second place finish and a trip to the state meet in Rapid City Saturday.

Finishing behind only Elkton-Lake Benton, the Cardinals were led by Mitch Roemen, who was third best out of 41 runners with a time of 17:16.

Jared Scholten’s time of 17:37 earned him a fourth place finish, and Luke Brown’s 18:11 finish placed him ninth. Matt Farmer took 12th for St. Mary with a time of 18:18, and Ethan Schmidt rounded out the Cardinals’ varsity team with a time of 18:43 and a 13th place finish.
The Cardinal boys are headed to the state meet with a number two ranking in the Class B poll.

The St. Mary girls team also took second place at the meet after strong finishes by Anna Wolles, Cassy Geraets and Jackie Wolles.

Anna Wolles was second best out of 42 competitors with a time of 16:03. Geraets time of 16:32 was good enough for fourth place, and Jackie Wolles finished 15th with a time of 16:57.

“Both the boys and girls teams ran very well,” said Cody Schilling, St. Mary head coach. “To bring home hardware and medals is something that has been a goal of ours all year. Hopefully we can have a strong showing at the state meet and finish off this season on a high note.”

St. Mary’s boys and girls cross country teams are headed to the state meet after second place finished last week at the region meet in Howard. The team is made up of, front row from left, Jared Scholten, Mitch Roemen, Anna Wolles, Ethan Schmidt; back row, coach Cody Schilling, Luke Brown, Matt Farmer, Josh Roemen, Drew Wood, Jackie Wolles and Cassy Geraets.